1. Technical Field
This invention relates to farm equipment for the handling of round bales of hay or the like. More particularly, it relates to round bale moving equipment that can be flush-mounted on the flat bed of a conventional transport vehicle.
2. Background Art
Round bales typically may be up to five feet in diameter and length and weigh as much as 1,500 pounds. The use of large round bales has several advantages including the fact that round bales need not be transferred from the field and stored under cover. The size of the bales, however, makes it impossible to lift and transport the bales when such is necessary without the use of powered equipment.
In the past, dedicated apparatus for the handling of round bales have been provided such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,772 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,895. Also, systems suitable for attachment to a conventional flat bed vehicle such as a pick-up truck have been provided, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,090,624, 4,044,963, and 4,298,301. Heretofore, however, there have been no round bale handling systems that could be attached to a conventional flat bed vehicle without taking up a dedicated area of the vehicle's flat bed surface. A person desiring to handle large round bales would therefore have to purchase a separate round bale handler, or would have to convert a general purpose transport vehicle into a dedicated bale handler.
A bale handling attachment for a conventional flat bed vehicle that could be mounted to the vehicle without interferring with the general purpose transport functions of the vehicle would be a decided advantage.